Scott's Background
I was honored to be elected to the Board of Public Works six months ago, and am eager to continue the work I have started. My smooth transition into this role was based on my position as a Select Board appointed member of Wellesley’s Sustainable Energy Committee (SEC) where I served for 8 years. On the SEC I had the opportunity to with the Municipal Light Plant (MLP), Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF).
Professionally, I am an Engineer with years of experience evaluating new technologies that meet functional and emerging needs for both infrastructure planning and maintenance. As a Product Manager, I have successfully managed multiple multi-million dollar projects on time, and within budget.
My experience with strategic planning and product life-cycle management qualifies me to work with the DPW and MLP teams to further optimize processes in town infrastructure improvement, maintenance and resource utilization -- including preparing to mitigate climate change in financially and environmentally compatible ways.
Why Board of Public Works?
As a life-long resident, I am committed to excellence in town-wide infrastructure, responsible resource utilization and fiscal responsibility. The path that led me to the DPW started in 2002 when I toured solar homes and became excited to learn about renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. I was hooked! I tried everything under (and including) the sun to maximize conservation and efficiency. In the process I learned what works and doesn’t work. I learned that reducing energy use by ~50% was achievable with short paybacks on investment, and little or no impact on lifestyle.
Enthusiastic about sharing this with the community, I invited other engaged residents to join forces and founded Sustainable Wellesley. That same year I was appointed by the Select Board (SB) to the Town’s Green Ribbon Study Committee (GRSC) to establish an emissions baseline, reduction goal and Sustainable Energy Plan. At the conclusion of the GRSC I was again appointed by the SB to the Sustainable Energy Committee (SEC). In both organizations, I spent more than 10 years engaged in community outreach including organizing a series of seminars, Expo exhibits, and Parade floats. My efforts in outreach are often sponsored by Wellesley’s Municipal Light Plant, featuring programs and incentives targeting residential energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy.
I have successfully leveraged Municipal programs to inspire individual action. Now I am working on the Board of Public Works to develop programs and policies for residential, commercial and municipal sectors. There is a huge financial and environmental win-win opportunity that will enable us all to save money, reduce waste and improve infrastructure.
Together with the DPW and MLP staff we can make critical decisions that will improve the quality of life in our town for years to come.
We are very fortunate to have outstanding staff and management in our DPW and MLP. They work effectively to provide excellence in our infrastructure. Looking forward I believe that we need to put additional focus on resource conservation.
Last year I was part of a team that successfully brought a citizens petition to town meeting to accelerate reduction in Wellesley’s greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, I was elected to the Board of Public Works. These experiences, combined with my background have prepared me to assist the Public Works as it looks ahead to create a stronger, healthier, more resilient and connected community.
As a Board member I am excited to work with the DPW management team to investigate and implement initiatives for water conservation via the EPA WaterSense Program as well as seek other opportunities in efficient water use.
On the WMLP Board there are exciting opportunities in three key areas; efficiency, generation and storage. I have worked with the MLP on various initiatives over the past few years and look forward to continued progress. Specifically, I have extensive experience with home power meters and am starting to work with WMLP management to implement a pilot program with similar meters to achieve residential conservation and efficiency best practices. I have also worked with MLP to analyze our electricity load profile and am interested in influencing continued progress in solar generation and battery storage capacity in town.
These initiatives will reduce water and energy usage with an eye on environmental and financial savings, all without compromising lifestyle.